An Old Truth
by Shaydo
Summary: Star Wars: Rebels, Ahsoka x Kanan romance. and Kanan embark on a mission to find a secure rebel base starting with a moon orbiting the planet Tentu, there they encounter a derelict ship and a mysterious stranger with dire implications. Lemon, Graphic, Moderately paced.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

 _ **Derelict:**_

* * *

"Hmm, I don't like the look of it." Kanan's words matched her own ominous feelings as she stared intently at the the massive side port of the derelict ship, it appeared to be unpowered... It also appeared to have been there for some time, years perhaps.

The ship was shaped like a typical star destroyer but oddly enough it had more volume, lacking the relatively slim dimensions of the other war ships of the Imperial fleet. The ships nose was also different, it was flattened yet it looked just as imposing as before, windows raced along the edge of the ships bow. It's engines also were quite atypical for a Star Destroyer, it had twelve thrusters rather than seven, all of the thrusters were massive as opposed to just having three large thrusters.

"Odd looking ship..." Kanan's words hung in the air, her silence was assent to his observations.

"You ever see a ship like this Fulcrum?" His teasing manner was not returned, Ahsoka liked Kanan a lot but the ship was drawing all her focus, she concentrated searching her memories as she tried to recall if she had ever seen a ship that matched the layout of this derelict vessel.

"Why do you think it's here of all places?" Ahsoka said in a low maidenly voice, her hand lowered as she subconsciously gripped one of her Lightsabers.

Kana's hand reached out gripping her left fingers that were enclosed around the blade, he seemed to be slightly unpracticed at such gestures... Though it wasn't as if he had many opportunities for practice...

Kanan breathed out slowly, he moved his hand from hers and used it as a rest for his chin as contemplated the mystery that they stumbled upon... These diversions unforeseen diversions were becoming too frequent of late. He breathed out another sigh.

"Well it's definitely Imperial though obviously I have never seen that model." He stated as his eyes bore into the side of the hulking ship.

The Ghost drifted a good kilometer away, they were jamming all signals but such an action seemed unnecessary in this case.

"Yes it must be?" She replied with an ominous tone.

Kanan pointed at the bridge.

"I can see part of an imperial insignia, it's hard to see from this angle but I can just make it out" his words filled the silence.

Ahsoka finally looked away from the oddly shaped ship and sat back down, the ship was slowly spinning like a bottle on its side.

"Well considering that this is your ship." She grinned.

"And your base too if we are successful, how do you think we should deal with anomaly?" She said once again with a serious tone.

He leaned back in the pilots chair, contemplating their options.

The ship was a few billion kilometers away from Tentu and thus its moon, but if an Imperial patrol came searching for the ship it would no doubt send probe droids to scout the surrounding planets, the closest planets being in close proximity to Tentu, of course.

He sighed again in frustration, can't anything ever just be simple? "That's the price of being a rebel fighting perhaps the most powerful dictatorship that the galaxy has ever known" he thought bitterly to himself.

He made up his mind, using a cheery tone to hide his anxious feelings about the ship;

"Well, the ship could have resources or other valuables we could use or sell, we are running low on credits so it might be worth a look" he looked over at her with a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth

"So, we are going to do what we always do" he postulated.

"Which is?" Ahsoka said with a slight grin.

"Oh you know, smuggler stuff" he said with a voice that mimicked that goon Hondo Ohnaka which his apprentice had taken a liking too... which wiped the grin off his face.

"I thought you were a Jedi not a bonafide criminal, and a pirate no less." She said was a little laugh.

"How do you know Hondo." She said recognizing the voice Kanan mimicked, she reminisced about old memories of that scoundrel.

"Oh we have had "dealings" with him in the past." He said while rolling his eyes.

"Dealings not to your favor I would imagine." She said again laughing a bit.

She really did know Hondo, thought Kanan. Hondo was tolerable, but what frustrated him was his friendship with Ezra, he knew that Hondo would trick and hurt Ezra if it would profit Hondo... "Ezra is just going to have to learn that lesson on his own" Kanan decided, forcing himself to think of more important things.

"Aren't Jedi supposed to be better than mere smugglers." She said again teasing him.

"Well, not all of us had the luck of being trained by a general, rule breaking comes much more easily to me than being a Jedi." Kanan said offhandedly while checking that his Lightsaber and blaster were connected properly to his belt.

"You clearly didn't know Master Skywalker then... he followed rules about as often as he played with sand." She said with a smirk.

"Sand?" Kanan asked a little confused.

"Sand..." She repeated, it was an inside joke that Kanan didn't understand.

"He really hated sand, I never asked him why, though it probably had something to do with him growing up on Tatooine." she said in a tone belying the pain she still felt, a pain that had only grown since the day she felt that darkness that should have been her master, "Why did I leave you Anakin" she whispered to herself so quietly that Kanan couldn't hear, she could see the darkness even now, taunting her with images of the fate of her friend, brother and old master.

She still had trouble believing that he could fall to the dark side, after all the times he fought against such evil. How could he fight for a force that enslaved people after he was a slave? She remembered a mission they once took, to infiltrate the slaver scum on Zygerria only to end up becoming slaves for real. To think that Anakin could now fight for an evil that was even worse than the Zygerrians or the Huts who had enslaved him as a child, she shuddered at the implications of such darkness.

"Unfortunately we didn't bring that bucket of bolts with us, so we will have to manually dock and scan, I hope your up for it because it can be very tedious" he said with a grain of frustration.

His voice brought Ahsoka out of her painful musings, a depressed look stole across her face before she could stop it. Kanan didn't notice though, thankfully.

Kanan rubbed his eyes, he hadn't gotten much sleep lately especially since "Fulcrum" had began living on the Ghost, "Bah" he thought to himself, I may no longer be a Jedi, but I am still part of their world even if that world is long gone and is unlikely to ever come back... he mused to himself thinking longingly of his old master... how many years has it been now? Much longer than a decade...

Ahsoka noticed the blank stare on Kanan's face and her intuition revealed his feelings to her.

"I'm sorry, It's not good to bring back old memories, especially memories of "that" time." She said sorrowfully.

"It's alright Ahsoka, those memories are part of what make us who we are..."

Ahsoka nodded and turned around staring at the derelict ship again, she folded her arms and started tapping her fingers.

"Let's dock with that ship, unless you have a better idea"

"No" said Ahsoka

"This ship is still a few billion kilometers away from the planet, we don't want the Empire to have their eyes on this system unless we can avoid it" she said, becoming slightly frustrated with their ever increasing bad luck, she almost laughed remembering how many of the Jedi Masters even Plo Koon would occasionally repeat the dogma that "there is no luck", She wondered what they would think in her situation...

"I figured as much, I was just waiting for you to confirm my own thoughts" he said in a resigned tone.

"All right, you wanna dock the ship while I go grab some spare supplies and a flashlight?" He said hastily.

"Yea, maybe you can get one of Ezra's spare helmets, one of them should have a flashlight module on them" she replied distractedly for she was docking Ghost in the ships large hangar.

How odd that the hangar doors stood ajar, the ship had no power that they could detect yet it still maintained a breathable and temperate atmosphere, this was more than odd.

"I got a bad feeling about this" Ahsoka murmured.

"I know what you mean" Kanan said softly still glancing at the ship again from the doorway.

"I would get you a helmet too but I suppose that wouldn't help" He said offhandedly, still focused on the ship as if he couldn't break eye contact.

Ahsoka landed the ship in the hangar.

"Maybe you could see if sabine has painted any of them, maybe there is a helmet that matches my outfit" she said with slight interest.

"I don't know, your armor is pretty bland and her painting is usually very eccentric" he chuckled in his usual deep tone.

"It's not bland she muttered." She murmured just loud enough for him to hear, she impatiently began tapping her fingers on her arm.

A few minutes later Kanan returned with a Stormtrooper scout Helmet, he also had other supplies locked into his belt, he walked into the cockpit and tapped the helmet against the wall to get Ahsokas attention.

He presented the helmet to Ahsoka with a slight flourish, Ahsoka shared in slight shock at the "non standard issue" helmet that Sabine had modified.

"What... is that supposed to be?" she said incredulously.

The Helmet was covered in blue and white zig-zag stripes on the side, the front panel of the mask was surrounded with a silver aura with a blue streak running across the eyebrow ridge without touching the eye covers.

"Well, you said you wanted to find a helmet that would suit your outfit, I guess Sabine was inspired by your Lekku" Kanan said handing her the helmet.

"It's beautiful" she said in slight awe.

"That girl sure knows how to paint" she added while staring at the beautiful patterns on the sides of the helmet.

"Yea she sure does, well I will use the helmet, you take the flashlight" Kanan suggested.

Ahsoka took the flashlight while Kanan donned the helmet.

The exit ramp lowered onto the smooth dark floor, the material of the floor seemed to be standard issue for Imperial star cruisers Kanan noted as he looked around the large room.

"It's really... open in here, no clutter, no crates or anything else, it's kind of eerie don't you think" he said to her in a quiet tone.

"Yea, I don't like how this room feels, look at the walls... there are no vents, it seems that the only way in or out of the ship is that one door over there" she said as she shined her flashlight across the room hitting a blast door.

"it's more dark than I am used too that's for sure" Kanan muttered.

"I think the Imperials like that feeling in their ships, always with the black floors, what's odd is that black material is usually only used for the floor's in Imperial hangars, in this room it is the same material on every surface" Ahsoka said while she observed the room all around them.

"Yea..." he replied uneasily.

The Hanger was large... no that was an understatement, most ships had much smaller hangers except of course ships like the Imperial Star Destroyer's and their variants. Normally there were crates or other debris scattered in such hangers of derelict ships, but this hanger was smooth and clean like nothing had been here for years...Nor was there a sign of struggle or any other such anomaly, it like everyone just packed up and left, Kanan was growing more and more uneasy.

"Did you scan to see if there were still escape pods?" he asked her.

"All the escape pods were jettisoned" she explained to him.

"Other than the power being out and the pods being jettisoned I couldn't detect any anomaly that would explain why the ship is deserted" she said questioningly.

"If you're wondering what I think, I really have idea as to why they would leave this ship and not even have a scrap team come to collect it" Kanan answered her.

They moved closer to the door, finally reaching it. Kanan tried opening the door with the console but it was unpowered. Ahsoka raised one eyebrow at him.

"I'm just checking" he replied.

"There is no scuff marks from other ships, no signs of a struggle, there is nothing in here and no evidence that anything has been here in some time" he mentioned in passing.

She stopped right by the edge of the blast door, and looked at him again.

"I thought you said you saw an Imperial insignia on the nose of the ship" she asked quickly.

"Yea I did, what of it?" he grabbed his Lightsaber as he replied, igniting it and started slicing through the door.

"Well if Imperials did evacuate through the escape pods then don't you think even one of them would have reported the location of this derelict ship to the Empire?" She asked while staring at the molten metal dripping from the door.

"Yea that's a good point, so if the imperials evacuated then why haven't they informed the Empire? Perhaps none of them could inform the Empire? he said as he finally cut through the last segment of the blast door, he used the force to pull the molten cylinder out of the hole and place it gently to the side.

"I don't believe it." He exclaimed.

The hole he cut wasn't nearly long enough to penetrate to the other end of the door.

"That's some blast door." He murmured.

"Stand back." Ahsoka muttered, Kanan glanced at her then moved back a few feet.

She used the force to propel her Lightsabers into the hole and cut a clean another length of material out of the hole, she used the force to pull her weapons back and clip them to her belt while she quickly pulled the rest of the molten metal out of the excision laying it beside the other debris.

"That should do it." She said a bit smugly.

"Thanks." He replied with a bit of sarcasm.

"Well, we haven't seen anything to suggest that there is any danger." She spoke slowly.

"Yet." He sighed out.

"Is something wrong?" She said a bit irritably

"Hey, no need to be snippy." He replied off nonchalantly

"Nothings wro- hey, are you alright?" He said, seeing the look of pain on her face.

"I didn't mean to insult you, I am just a bit on edge." He said quickly.

"You didn't do anything, it's just Anakin used to call me snips... I had almost forgotten." She said distractedly with a expression on her face.

He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"I am sorry for making you think about him, but right now we need to focus on our job which is finding a secure base for our immediate rebel cells." He said in a gentle tone, letting her know that he was willing to hear her but that he was also becoming impatient, he wanted to finish this job, the Rebel fleet didn't have an eternity to wait.

Ahsoka nodded, they both turned to the opening in the blast door which had been exised perfectly, Kanan reached up and turned a nob on his helmet causing another beam of light to reveal some of the room on the other end of the segment.

"Ladies first." He playfully taunted her, trying to get her mind off her memories.

She nodded and wen't through the opening with both her Lightsabers out and ready for anything. Kanan climbed through after her in a similar stance with his weapon drawn as well.

"Okay, lets just be careful, alright?" Kanan said with a worried glance at Ahsoka.

"Hey, we have Lightsabers you know." Ahsoka said jokingly.

"Let's hope Lightsabers are all we'll need." Giving her a meaningful look as he grimaced at the thought of the sheer probability of that notion.

After waiting a minute to let the metal cool, they both crawled through the excised hole, they found themselves in an antechamber which also had no vents, no opening save for a door that was paced around twenty five meters down a darkened hallway.

"What is this place? I have never seen Hangars and their connecting passages be... concealed, not on a ship at least." Kanan spoke softly gripping the hilt of his blade tightly, reassuring himself with the soothing feeling of its weight in his hand.

"What worries me is why the design of this place is so... sterile, it reminds me of a mission I helped lead back on Naboo during the Clone Wars, a "mad" scientist brought an extinct virus back from the dead... the Blue Shadow Virus." Ahsoka said in a thoughtful voice

"His underground base had a similar precise and concealed layout." Ahsoka finished her sentence with a bit of anger at the thought of how many would have died had that man succeeded in his mad delusion to put the galaxy on its knees again from that terrible plague, she had only read about its affects but she knew that such a plague could have easily wiped out every spaceworthy species in the galaxy.

They reached the second door and again tried to open it via the console.

"Why bother?" asked Ahsoka.

"I was just seeing if power is out all across the ship rather than in specific sections, though clearly this ship has had major engine failure of some kind and has lost it's backup auxiliary power, which means that life support should be down" Kanan said puzzling the matter

"But if life support is down then why did we detect a breathable and temperate atmosphere on the ships scanners?" She replied raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, but obviously something is keeping the atmosphere and temperature stable." He said starting to look back at the ship.

"Whatever went wrong assuming something actually did go wrong..." He gave her a meaningful look.

"You think this might be a trap?" Ahsoka asked unfazed, she clearly had been thinking the same thing.

"I don't know, but whatever happened doesn't seem to have damaged the ship as far as we can tell, for all we know the ship could have been abandoned over a simple issue and the Empire has just been too lazy to send out a scrap crew to salvage the ship" he answered her.

"Yea, but we both know how seriously the Empire takes their little projects, and like you said this ship seems to be important based on its layout, I doubt they would just leave it here for anyone to discover... which means that whoever was on this ship either didn't or couldn't inform the empire that they had to abandon ship" he said in deep though.

"Or like you said, this could be a trap designed to lure in the unwary... or maybe even Rebels specifically, the Empire must know that we have been scouting for a secure base and they may have taken the time to lure insurgents with the chance of resources." She replied thoughtfully.

"This ship seems awfully expensive for just a simple trap" Kanan said as he observed the second blast door barring their way, he sighed at the mystery as he once again ignited his Lightsaber preparing to cut through the second barrier.

"Allow me" Ahsoka said quickly, as she repeated the same procedure as before, she had to make two cuts, and like before there was now two mounds of charred metal placed by wall close to the entrance.

They both maneuvered through to the next room, As Kanan crawled out of the hole he marveled again at the seemingly simple but precise design. They were in another large rectangular room, empty just as the other though this time there were four blast doors, one located in the middle of each wall.

"We should go to the bridge first" Ahsoka said as she observed the walls, shining her light across their dark interior.

"That's probably our best bet" Kanan confirmed as he began to make his way across the room, the air was temperate just like in the other room.

"How does life support and temperature stay stable if there are no air vents connecting each segment of the ship?" He mused.

"Maybe each segment has its own life support and heating systems..."she responded with a dubious look showing that she didn't believe it herself.

"As unlikely as that seems, I can't imagine another way other than for all the doors to be open between each segment, but this ship seems to have been derelict for quite some time, the heat at least should have radiated away a long time ago" he said now thoroughly baffled.

"The only logical explanation I can come to, "she peered at him" is that someone has been maintaining this ship but just merely making it appear to be abandoned or derelict." She said with a look that spoke a volume of implications.

"We best be on our guard then" Kanan said adamantly.

They reached the third Blast Door and once again Ahsoka cut through the door just as before.

Again after waiting a minute for the molten interior to cool, they then proceeded to crawl through for the third time, they found themselves in a hallway that was about fifty meters long, there were three blast doors spaced on each side, at the end of the hallway another blast door stood ajar. They both began to slowly walk towards the open door while being as quiet as possible.

"Let me go first" Kanan muttered.

"This helmet has night vision... Turn off the flashlight and grab my arm, I will guide you to the side of the opening" he said quickly as he fumbled with the helmets interface.

Ahsoka complied immediately, she good at making split decisions that required little explanation, she firmly gripped his hand instead of his arm, he chuckled a little bit as her suggestiveness in such a gesture. "Leave it to a grey Jedi to cross boundaries unnecessarily." he thought to himself, grinning inwardly.

They both silently yet swiftly approached the vacant opening, he led her to the left side of the door and pushed her gently but firmly against the wall.

"I'm gonna have a quick peek" he said confidently.

"Stay here and keep quiet" he said, she scowled at him a little forgetting that he could see her face, this made him grin as he turned and quickly moved into the room.

It was a good thing they were so far from Tentu's Blue Gas Giant, there was practically no light filtering in through the observation windows at the nose end of the ship, thus the command room was nearly pitch black. He looked around, the layout of the room was nearly identical to the standard template for Imperial cruisers and frigates, terminals on the walls then beyond those walls a single aisle which led to a few of the observation windows, in crevices in the floor there were chairs and desks each containing their own intricate terminals and equipment. He paused as he saw it... there was a lone figure standing absolutely still in the middle of the aisle.

It had the outline of a large man or droid, he stared at its motionless form for a few seconds then quickly left the room, he found Ahsoka where he had left her, she was standing there looking down at the other end of the hall, he brushed her arm with his finger tips which made her flinch just the tiniest bit. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"The layout is pretty standard for an Imperial cruiser, but I saw something in there." she paused and waited for him to continue.

"There is a man or a droid standing still, motionless in the middle of the aisle in there, I can't tell whether it's a droid or a man with its back turned to me... it looked too broad to be a droid yet the way it was just standing leads me to believe that it is just a droid." he told her as she turned her head to his voice.

"We should go in there and disable it, whether it is man or droid" she whispered back and with resolve.

"I don't think we have any other choice if we want to find out what happened here." he agreed with her.

"When we get in there, turn your flashlight towards the ceiling so the room is illuminated, do this before we cut it down whatever it may be, it might be more valuable to keep it intact until we understand what is going on." he said firmly, she whispered a quick ascent.

Even though he was guiding her she still moved with an experts grace, he had her stand right behind one of the walls with a large terminal on it.

"Wait ten seconds then flash the light at the ceiling" after telling her he moved down the room, he suddenly but silently jumped over the figure landing a good ten feet away from its front.  
The light suddenly came on, it reflected off the smooth black surface of what was now clearly a droid though a model he had never seen before, not in the Clone Wars or at any other time. He stared at it intently, waiting for any reaction as he breathed slowly, there was no response, it had clearly deactivated while standing there and probably hand't moved in years, he slowly walked past it as Ahsoka stared at them both.

"I guess it's deactivated" he confirmed in a calm voice.

"Let's see if we can get that Holographic terminal functional again" Ahsoka said as she kept her eyes on the droid for another few moments.

"That thing gives me the creeps" she muttered as she turned to the terminal in the center of the antechamber that led into the pilots nest.

"Did you bring it?" She asked expectantly.

He detached a power cell and an interface module from his belt and handed them to her, "We may not have Chopper but she seems to be just as proficient with machinery" he thought to himself, admiring her handiwork as the holographic terminal suddenly came alive with restored power.

"How much information do you think we can get from that thing" he asked her intently.

"We should be able to get security and route logs and any messages this ship received or sent" she said in slight concentration as she began accessing the route logs looking for the origin and destination locations.

"That's odd." She said as she looked again.

"What now?" He replied impatiently.

"The route logs seemed to have been erased from this terminal..." She said now with a worried look on her face.

"You think someone wiped the logs when they were evacuating the ship?" He asked quickly.

"That would make the most sense." She answered.

"Bring up the security logs, I want to know what was on this ship because this clearly feels like a prison ship" He suggested with interest as he stared at the files flashing across the terminal.

"Your instincts seem to be dead on, this was a prison ship... yet from what I can tell they were only transporting a single prisoner... He was in... Cell three." she murmured as she looked through the files.

"Where is cell three?" He asked.

"It's right down the hall, the second door from us on... the left." She answered as she pulled up another file.

"There's security footage here that shows the prisoner." She said as the footage began to play above the terminal.

There were two figures, both male. The prisoner was in a ray shielded cage, he had a black cloak that looked very similar to what the Jedi Masters use to wear back in the old days, his hood was drawn up concealing his face. There was another figure who was covered in black armor from head to foot, he had a mask of some kind on, it looked eerily familiar, he concluded that the pacing man must be an inquisitor. In the footage the man walked closer to the monitor, turning around the cage as he continued to pace, Kanan saw it then, the rare spinning Lightsaber that he had seen the Grand Inquisitor use.

"He's an inquisitor." Kanan blurted out, she glanced to his face with a worried expression.

The inquisitor continued to pace around the cage, Kanan noticed another Lightsaber hooked to the inquisitors belt... "Odd" he thought to himself. After walking one more revolution around the ray shielded prison the inquisitor stopped, he turned and faced the prisoner who was sitting down with his legs crossed, Kanan could just make out a calm and empty expression on the mans face.

The inquisitor detached the unknown Lightsaber from his belt, he held it out in front of him, turned it over in his grip while he studied the build and pattern. It was a beautiful weapon and design Kanan had never seen before, it was about six inches from base to tip, dark grey with a faint black aura around it from the light reflecting off of it. it was cylindrical like all other Lightsabers Kana had seen but the texture of the metal was different, it made it look as if its surface was grainy like a sharpening stone yet it was as smooth and polished as fine obsidian, it was a regal and deadly looking weapon.

The shape of it was uniform, with hardly any change in thickness other than the ignition control and a slight change in texture and width at the grip points.

A blade of pure silver ignited from the tip, Ahsoka gasped.

"Another silver Kyber crystal..." she said astonished.

"They are extremely rare, other than Master Sinube and myself, I have never seen another one." She whispered as she stared at the blade.

"How do you even get a Kyber crystal to turn silver?" Kanan asked hesitantly, not sure if she would confide in him.

"A long time ago, more than four thousand years ago the old Jedi would sometimes grow their own Kyber crystals, their uniform color was silver much like his blade... and mine." She replied while staring at one of her own Lightsabers as it swung slightly from her belt.

"Is that the only way" Kanan asked as he stared at her Lightsabers too.

"No, sometimes if you are lucky, you can find them in certain places that have a strong connection to the force, places with a stronger force connection than planets like Illum." Kanan's eyes widened.

"Illum had an incredibly strong connection to the force, what kind of place could have a stronger connection." He said incredulously.

"I have journeyed to places I never thought I would ever see... I found one of my Kyber crystals on a planet like no other... it was actually a massive ship that had the characteristics of a planet, it was called Mortis, I have seen few other places with such a strong connection to the force." She said in a reflective tone as she stared at his eyes... he stared at her with a look of admiration which was unexpected, he looked into her piercing blue eyes... they had a lovely tint of green in them that made the blue a perfect shade of Cyan.

She noticed the look, she quickly turned her face back to the Hologram in slight embarrassment.

With a suddenly sheepish grin he looked back at the Hologram as well.

The inquisitor was still looking at the silver blade.

"Where did you come by such a regal weapon with such a unique... Aura... I haven't seen a silver blade except when studying certain... Holocrons." the inquisitor said in a sly voice, like a snake.

At the last word the prisoner looked up sharply at the inquisitor, he said in a calm and passionate voice.

"If you learned of a silver blade from a Holocron then you should know exactly where I got it." He replied with a tone that implied the utmost honesty.

"Oh I know where you got it, I just can't seem to believe that you of all people have such a blade... especially this blade..." The inquisitor looked down at the prisoner, slowly his hands reached up to his face, there was a popping sound and the mask came off, the inquisitor was still turned away from the monitor so Kanan and Ahsoka couldn't see what he looked like... the prisoner however could.

"How... Did...You get your hands on this blade... Old man." He demanded with in a venomous tone.

"Knowledge..." The man replied.

The inquisitor laughed without humor.

"You expect me to believe that knowledge alone would have led you to the long lost blade of Meetra Surik?! Don't play games with me, I can kill you at any time it pleases me" the Inquisitor replied in a mirthful yet heartless tone.

"If you were going to kill me then you would have done so already, you are clearly under orders to bring me to "him" alive." The man replied in a steady voice.

"True... My orders are to bring you in alive... The orders were not specific on anything other than you being alive when you arrived" The inquisitor threatened in a musing voice.

The man did not seem cowed by the threat, he didn't seem worried in the slightest.

"You know why I am here, there are no relevant secrets that I have not already told you" The man said with the same calmness.

"I know... You took all the fun out of the game before I even got to play" The inquisitor responded slyly.

The Inquisitor turned back around, now they had a clear look at his face.

They stared in shock, it wasn't anyone they knew but his features were quite... unique.

It was a human male likely in his late twenties to early thirties, he had squarish yet articulate face that belied perfection in nearly all its details, he had the shadow of a beard growing clearly not bothering to shave that morning, his eyebrows were formed into a natural hawk like glare, his eyes were bright yellow, orange and red which was typical of the Sith, but the most peculiar thing about him was his silver hair, not white with age but rather it was naturally silver, strands of it fell down to his jaw but most of it seems to be held back likely in a Jedi's ponytail.

Ahsoka chuckled to herself with the sometimes hilarious habits of the Jedi especially the men.

"What's so funny" Kanan said with a frown on his face.

"Just how nearly all male Jedi I have seen have their hair in braids or a pony tail... Even master Kenobi used to braid part of his hair... At least that's what Anakin told me." she grinned ruefully at the memory.

"I thought you liked how I look." He said to himself jokingly with a falsely pained expression.

"I wasn't aware that I had ever commented on your looks... but now that I think about it" She looked him up and down slowly.

"Not bad... Not bad at all" She said with a throaty chuckle, suddenly she had a flashback of her old friend Lux saying that to her the first day they had met after they had argued about the morality of the Republic and Separatists. "Alwyas with the pleasant memories" she sighed inwardly.

Kanan's face turned a bit red at that which was extremely unusual since nothing seemed to faze him.

He was unwilling to let her get the upper hand on him especially where his pride was concerned.

He studied her in the same way she had just evaluated him... he grinned again mischievously.

"No... your not bad at all either" he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the Hologram, but she still had a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

The Inquisitor resumed his walk back to a desk which rested near the door, it had a terminal on it with numerous gauges and dials, he drawled while he was walking...

"I guess I will have to find a new game to entertain me in the meantime" The inquisitor reached the desk which was near the peripheral of the monitor, he sat down in a comfortable looking chair.

Leaning back he used his boot to slowly raise a gauge on the desk terminal, suddenly there was a violent cascade of pulsing electricity that ran through the ray shielded cage from the floor to its ceiling continually, the old man didn't make a sound but Kanan could tell he had tensed every muscle in his body.

After a about twenty seconds of the inquisitor watching the violent shards of electricity attack the old man he moved the dial back down lazily with his foot again.

"I should have known that a Revanchist would be quite tolerant to pain considering your unshakable resolve for the nigh impossible quest to bring balance to us all" The inquisitor said with a chuckle.

Using his foot he pushed the lever even higher up the gauge, the lightning became much more intense, it was so bright on the monitor that it darkened the rest of the room, the old man started shaking violently in the onslaught, the inquisitor let it run wildly for a good thirty seconds before he slowly pulled the lever down with his foot again.

"Delicious." He sighed, slowly he stood up, I have to go deal with some matters... I will be back... And when I return I will find some new ways to make you scream then we will begin have some true "fun", the inquisitor promised as he left the room.

"What a jack ass." Kanan murmured, Ahsoka looked over at him nodding slightly.

"Is there any more footage?" He asked as he continued to stare at the still frame which showed the old man slightly leaning on his side.

"Let's see" She murmured in a dark tone, she was clearly upset to see such things again, he knew that she fought in many battles of the Clone Wars and that therefore she must be accustomed to seeing such ghastly things... as he once was accustomed to them.

"There is footage from around eighty hours past that segment, they must had the prisoner for only a short time and were transporting him somewhere... Probably a fortified Imperial prison or something similar." The dark tone still saturated her voice and was beginning to creep onto her face.

New footage rapidly replaced old footage until it came to nearly the end of the recording.

The Inquisitor was sitting down again, he had left a slow trickle of electricity running through the prison, the old man seemed to be wearing down, clearly the inquisitor was keeping him from sleeping with that torture device.

The inquisitor turned off the electricity entirely, he stood up and walked toward the cage stopping a few feet from it, the ray shields making it appear as if he was glowing.

"Why would you risk your own life to save those who don't wish to be saved" he said softly.

"Sometimes one must sacrifice themselves in order to save what matters most to them." the old man said with the tone he had used in the previous footage, a tone of passion, sincerity and truth.

"So you came here expecting not only to sway the inquisitors to become "one" with the force but you also planned on turning Lord Vader as well?

I doubt even the Jedi would have tolerated you, perhaps they would have killed you as well" the inquisitor said mockingly.

"If the Galaxy is to survive then I and those who are of my own must do what we can to preserve the will of the force... Neither the Jedi nor the Sith are one with the force and thus your actions are largely contrary to the will of the Force... Sometimes though a Jedi and even a Sith can fulfill the will of the Force." The man said with a calmness born out of knowledge and the love of the truth.

"If the force aids me when I will it then who are you to say that the Sith or even the Jedi are acting against the will of the force? And how do you even know that the Force has a will?" The inquisitor asked, sounding interested for the first time.

"The Living Force feeds into the Cosmic Force, in the Cosmic Force consciousness is retained eternally... those in my order call it the Nether, you would call it the afterlife." the old man said with conviction.

"Most force sensitives including the Jedi and the Sith believe that conscience ends when the life ends, but they are both wrong." He continued with his wise recollections of truth.

"Tell me all of it old man or I will make you long for death in ways you never thought possible" The inquisitor threatened but Kanan could tell that he was more than curious about the words of the old man.

"I would have told you without the threats, child." The inquisitors eyes blazed at the insult but he kept silent waiting for the old man to continue.

"As I was saying, the Jedi and Sith believe that conscience ends after death but they couldn't be more wrong, many become confused concerning the truth that the Living Force feeds into the Cosmic Force, they make the mistake of thinking that the Cosmic Force is the Living Force and therefore is governed by similar rules... In reality however the Cosmic Force is as different from the Living Force as it is possible to be, as different as the light is from the darkness but like how darkness is bound to light so is the Cosmic Force bound to the Living Force." The inquisitor began to stroke his chin in thought.

"The will of the force is contained within the Cosmic Force, the Living Force is chaotic and without direction, the Living Force brings life spontaneously from all across the galaxy, but the conscience of the force resides within the order of the Cosmic Force. Tendrils of the Cosmic Force feed back in through the Living Force, by these connections the will of the force can be known." The old man was indulging the insatiable thirst for knowledge the inquisitor was clearly trying to keep hidden.

"Do you think he's telling the truth" Kanan asked in a whisper.

Ahsoka looked away from the Hologram with a look of someone who was finding what they had always been searching for.

"It makes sense so far, his words correlate with the experiences I have had since I left the Jedi Order... and even before, lets hear the rest of what he has to say" He looked at her with a worried expression.

"What? It's not like the ship is going anywhere." She looked at him puzzled.

"Something kept the life support systems functioning, it's no coincidence that we just happened to detect the ship either, that is what my instincts are telling me." He said, confiding his fears with her.

"Either way, we still need to hear what this "Revanchist" has to say, he could reveal knowledge that will help us in our fight against the Empire." The told him with resolve.

"Fine, I want to hear him anyways" Kanan looked back at the Hologram.

The Inquisitor was silent as he contemplated the words of the old man, he paced back and forth a few meters a couple of time, he stopped again in front of the old man.

"In what form do these "Tendrils" of the Cosmic Force take?" He asked, impatient for the knowledge.

"The form of those who came before... Only the most powerful of all force users can send flickers of themselves back through the Living Force after they have become one with the Cosmic Force after death... We Revanchist know because we have each spoken to those who we once knew... Loved ones... And ones that angered us.

I do know this as well... the Jedi have learned of a way to retain their conscious in a more powerful form, they have somehow learned how to delay their force energy which we can think of as being "Soul" from becoming one with the Cosmic Force... for a time at least, they anchor themselves temporarily within the Living Force..."

The Inquisitors eyes widened at the words of the old man.

"Won't the Jedi be angry that you told them this?" The inquisitor mocked him, but Ahsoka and Kanan could tell that the inquisitor was desperate for more knowledge.

"There are no Jedi and Sith within the will of the Force, there are only the children of the Force, I have come to establish the Will of the Force and to end the conflict that has raged for untold millennia... and the only way to do this is to convert one child at a time... you are such a one and the Jedi are such and even Darth Vader is such..." The old man replied with unshakable resolve.

"If you cannot even convert me then how could you possibly think that you would turn Lord Vader to your own ways whether they are true or not?" The inquisitor asked astonished.

"I only know that I must." the old man replied, suddenly a Storm Trooper in black armor entered, he looked over and saw the Inquisitor, he quickly rushed to him and leaned down whispering something to the Inquisitor. The Inquisitors face reddened in response to the trooper's words.

"How?!" He exclaimed.

As they were distracted the old man unexpectedly lifted his hands for a brief moment, the inquisitor frozen in place with a dull look on his face, his body completely hardened, one of his hands raised in anger the other in a closed fist hanging at his side.

The Storm Trooper turned and raised his weapon, but the old man spoke in a calm and powerful voice that echoed in the moderately sized room.

Kanan's eyes widened in shock at hearing the echo.

"His connection with the force must be incredibly strong." His words reflecting in Ahsoka's expression.

"That's some mind control." She said impressed.

"Do not move." The old man whispered to the Storm Trooper, the trooper followed his command immediately.

"You will leave the room, as soon as you leave the room you will remember who I am and what is happening, you will panic, you will find more Storm Troopers and bring them to this cell." The old mans voice was commanding and his words reverberated in the air, sending shock waves outward.

Shortly after the trooper left, the old man stood up stretching his body momentarily, then the other Storm Troopers entered into the room, most had their weapons raised.

Again he spoke.

"Don't move." They complied.

He had most of them stand at one side of the room while he commanded another trooper to go out and bring others, after about a half hour every trooper in the ship was enclosed in the now cramped room.

The old man ordered one of the troopers to release the ray shields that imprisoned him, the trooper turned with slow movements and flipped a switch on the desk terminal that the immobilized Inquisitor was still sitting at. With a low humming sound the ray shields deactivated, the old man sighed, pleased at how successful his plan was becoming.

"You will all proceed to the escape pods, leaving one here, after you have left the ship you will forget everything about this ship, now leave" They all left, when the last Storm Trooper was gone the old man began to walk forward, somehow though the Inquisitor had broken the link he had over him and was pretending to be immobilized, suddenly the hand came down on the switch and the ray shields went back up, the Inquisitor then reached for the gauge that would cause electricity to run through the cage, the old man threw out his hands immobilizing the inquisitor again, it took much of his strength to keep the inquisitor there...

"That's not good." Kanan muttered.

"What is he going to do now?" Ahsoka said in a worried tone.

The old man with a concentrated face stared again at the inquisitor.

"Perfect..." The old man sighed.

The old man sat down again and slowly he himself became frozen like the inquisitor, then the footage suddenly stopped.

Ahsoka and Kanan looked at each other.

"Do you think they're still in there?" Kanan said with a worried look.

"There's only one way to find out." Ahsoka said as she turned to the doorway.

He grabbed her arm forcing her to halt.

"There is no way he could have survived in there for three years!" He exclaimed.

She looked into his eyes then down at his hand gripping her arm, her expression became annoyed.

He released her arm, grimacing at her expression.

"We still have to check, whether they are both dead or..." She didn't finish the last part not knowing what to say.

They both walked swiftly out of the command center and down the hallway to Cell three.

"Sabers out." Kanan said before they reached the door, he ignited his Lightsaber as Ahsoka gripped hers.

"I'll cut this time." He told her, not wanted her to be the first to face whatever scene might be in there.

He swiftly cut through the door, rapidly pulling the charred section out and throwing it against the opposite door... luckily the blast doors on the cells were much thinner, so in the space of a few heartbeats he made the cut and jumped through the opening, Ahsoka followed behind him, they both stood upright, Ahsoka with her silver sabers in her agile Makashi - Juyo form, Kanan in his solid defensive Soresu form.

They both stared in shock, the Inquisitor was still sitting behind the desk with one of his arms raised in rage, the old man still sat in the ray shielded cage.

"What the?" Kanan blurted out without thinking.

The old mans eyes were closed, but now they slowly started to open then they fully opened, he looked intently at both Kanan and Ahsoka, he studied their eyes then their armor and finally their weapons.

"Jedi? Here?" The old man looked confused.

Kanan removed the scout helmet and stared intently at the old man.

"How did you find me... or even know to find me?" He said, his confusion expression deepening.

Ahsoka and Kanan stared at each other then each shut off their Lightsabers.

"We don't know you and we had no idea anyone was out here until we stumbled across your ship." Kanan said in a cautious tone.

"That is a pretty big coincidence that you just happened to stumble across a ship carrying both an Inquisitor and a Revanchist." The old man said soberly.

"Are you suggesting that the force led us here?" Ahsoka said also with a trace of caution in her voice.

"That would be one way of putting it." He gazed at her with a questioning frown.

"How is it that you have a silver blade my lady?" She looked back at him without responding.

"You have no need to fear me, I am here to help you... Ahsoka" Ahsoka gasped.

"How do you know who I am?!" She demanded forcefully.

"I became well acquainted with the the Jedi Temple's records when I first set out on my mission." He drew out the last word, giving it incredible significance.

"How did you get into the Jedi Temple? It is guarded day and night by elite troopers." Kanan asked suspiciously.

"The same way any Jedi or Sith would get in, I used my wide array of skills and knowledge to sneak past the guards and access some of the Holocrons that still remained within the Jedi Vault, the real trick was uploaded a false security feed while I was there... That strained my skills to a great degree I am afraid to say." The old man said with a slight trace of humor.

"Do you know who I am?" Asked Kanan.

"Of course, Kanan. I know of all the Jedi who had records in the Temple before order sixty six, and I know of most of the Rebel Cells and a great deal about the Sith who now control the majority of this galaxy." He confided in them, clearly he trusted them.

"So you know our names, do you think it's fair we don't know yours?" Ahsoka said with a bit of hostility, his intimate knowledge of her was making her nervous.

"That is a reasonable request I suppose, my name is Limmick, you may call me Lim for short if you wish." He said with a kind smile touching his face.

"Limmick? That is an odd name." Ahsoka said.

"Isn't it though." Lim smiled at her.

"So... Lim..." Kanan said, testing the name.

"We heard a good deal of what you told the inquisitor." Lim lifted an eyebrow.

"Ah, you watched the security recording I take it?" Lim said nonchalantly.

"Yes, that was some... controversial information you spoke of." Kanan told him so that the old man might reveal more of his knowledge to them.

"Ah... So you are still curious of why I am here even after I gave the inquisitor... And apparently also you, so much fresh knowledge? I can't say I blame you, I would wish to know everything were I you." Lim said

"How about this, I will tell you much of what I know if you release me from this cage and take me with you back to your other Rebel insurgents?" Lim petitioned them with another smile.

"We just met you and you expect us to trust you so soon?" Kanan said again with suspicion.

"If you watched the recording then you should know what I am and what my intentions are, I allowed myself to be captured by an Inquisitor so I could learn more about the Sith and on the off chance perhaps gain a convert." Lim said with the same sincere and passionate voice he had used with the Inquisitor.

"What exactly is it that you can offer us?" Ahsoka said still not fully convinced that he could be trusted.

"Protection by a highly skilled master of the force, and my knowledge of course which is worth infinitely more than my abilities." Lim said, staring deep into her eyes, seeing her emotions... her soul reflected in them.

"How is it that you survived for a year without food or water, and how did you immobilize this... Inquisitor?" She asked expecting the full truth.

"I know a great deal about the force" He said as he stretched his arms and cracked his neck.

"I know how to sustain myself for years on nothing but the energy of the Living Force, as for how I subdued the Inquisitors it is an ability we Revanchist's call "Force Stasis."" Lim stared at the curiosity growing on her face, he indulged her.

"We can use the Living Force to both give and take energy away from both life and space, what I did to the Inquisitor was take away much of the energy of the Living Force from parts of his brain while supplying energy to other parts of his body, thus I kept him alive with me while I forced to sustain myself on the energy of the Living Force." Lim simplified it for her.

"The way the Jedi use the force is primitive in the extreme, we Revanchist are Grey Jedi and we use the Force and we understand it thus we can harness it in its intricate complexities and accomplish feats with it that even the Sith would find baffling.

Sith Alchemy to us is like simple mathematics to advanced mathematician's." His words confounded both Kanan and Ahsoka, they were speechless.

Kanan and Ahsoka looked at each other, Ahsoka's expression softened and she nodded.

"If even a little of what you say is true then we could really use your help in many area's of the Rebellion, My apprentice and I would be served greatly by your knowledge." Kanan said, Kanan chose to trust the man.

Lim nodded at them both and smiled again.

"Like I said, I am here to help." Lim said with resolve.

"Would you have offered your "help" to the Sith as well?" Ahsoka said accusingly.

"I am here to bring all the children of the Force to the truth, not just the Jedi... or the lost Grey Jedi." His answer didn't please her.

"You are looking at this situation as "us versus them". Ahsoka the picture is much bigger than the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, I came to end the conflict by means of knowledge not to en flame the conflict." He said again passionately.

"I am going to help your rebellion because I doubt that I will ever be able to persuade Darth Sidious to become a true child of the force... Thus as long as he and those like him are alive the fate of the Galaxy is imperiled." Lim said sorrowfully.

Kanan stared at Lim for a few moments, letting his words sink in.

"I think I am starting to understand you a little bit, you look at every life form as if it were part of you and you part of it" Kanan said, by the expression on Lims face his instincts were correct.

"Your instincts serve you well Kanan Jarrus but knowledge will serve you better." His statement struck a cord in Kanan, he was really beginning to trust the old man.

"I will explain much more of this predicament you are all in after we leave this place." Lim said sounding impatient for the first time.

"I have much work to do still" Lim said, his face showing the weight of heavy burdens.

"I do have one question." Ahsoka said calmly.

Lim looked at her expectantly.

"How is it that a derelict ship maintained life support for over a year without power?" She asked him while staring at him intently.

"Good God, it's been a year?" Lim said in shock.

"I... I don't know why life support would have held up for so long without power, one loses sense of all time and space when they become one with the Living Force in order to maintain themselves, we are in space and in time but we don't comprehend either in such a state." Lim said with a troubled look on his face.

"The only conclusion we can come up with is that something... or someone is somehow keeping the life support systems functional even without the engines feeding them power, we checked and there is no Auxiliary power either... I don't see any other way that life support could still be functioning." Kanan said with conviction in his own theory.

"But who... or what would have done this for a... year?" Lim said.

Ahsoka and Kanan suddenly looked at each other in Alarm.

"The droid" Kanan muttered.

"Do you think it was an imperial droid or something else?" Ahsoka asked quickly.

"I don't know, but that thing looked dangerous, I don't want to find out" Kanan said as he quickly moved over to the desk terminal, he flipped the switch and the ray shields came down nearly instantly.

"Ah, thank you, I have been cooped up in that damnable cell for longer than even I realized." Lim said in sight contentment.

"Do you trust me to the extent of allowing me to retrieve my weapon?" Lim asked them intently.

Kanan once again looked at Ahsoka, studying her eyes. She finally nodded and moved out of Lim's way so he could take the Lightsaber from the Inquisitors belt.

Neither Kanan nor Ahsoka let Lim know that they had heard the Inquisitor say whose weapon it originally was... "Meetra Surik" Kanan thought in astonishment, a name nearly as legendary as Revan himself...

"I think it would be wise if we vacated the ship immediately." Lim said with a troubled look.

"What about the inquisitor" Ahsoka asked as she stared at the Inquisitors fare face.

"The force stasis I have him in will stay in affect until we are long gone.

Kanan gave him a quick nod then he turned to Ahsoka.

"Should I check and see if our other friend is still deactivated?" He asked her softly.

She glanced in the direction of the bridge then back at him and nodded.

"I will come with, this time we will use both our lights" She suggested.

Kanan took the helmet from under his arm and replaced it on his head, he turned up the dial on the side and a wide beam of light shot out, hitting the opening they had made in the Blast Door.

He nodded at Lim and Ahsoka, detached his saber from his belt, igniting it as he jumped through the opening, he immediately stood upright in his defensive Soresu form, Ahsoka joined him an instant later, Lim brought up the rear at first but then walked in from of them towards the empty doorway to the bridge, he stood strong in a powerful display of the Shien form, it reminded Ahsoka of Anakin, she had seem him stand like that so many times, a deep throb pulsed in her heart at the memories.

Lim advanced toward the opening finally igniting his beautiful blade, it's silver glow caressed the walls in soft shadows as he passed through the doorway, Kanan and Ahsoka were right on his heel guarding his back and sides.

Kana and Ahsoka both shined their lights down at the aisle near the observation windows where the droid had been before... The droid... Was gone.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" Ahsoka said in a tense voice.

"Did either of you recognize the model of the droid?" Lim asked them in a powerful voice.

"No, but... It had the shape of a slim man, it was tall with a cylindrical head with two large eyes" Kanan said trying to remember how it looked, he had almost forgotten after hearing the secrets Lim told the Inquisitor.

"Not good." Lim said.

"That sounds like one of the droids that was helping the inquisitor track me down, I am pretty sure one of them was a bounty hunter called... IG-88 I think that's what the Inquisitor called it" Lim said in a distracted tone.

"We better get off this ship, who knows if that droid called for reinforcements or not" Ahsoka said, her face was tense.

All three of them swiftly raced out of the room and down the hallway to the incised blast door, they each did a running dodge slide through the opening even Lim, the "Old man is fast for his age" Kanan thought to himself.

Shortly they were all back to the ghost, they didn't see any sign of the droid, they each ran up the ramp, they had the ramp lift off and retract, the Ghost swiftly rose a few meters into the air, turned and zipped out of the hangar.

In the light of the Ghost's thrusters a figure walked out of the opening in the door, with two Red eyes it stared at the Ghost as it swiftly departed, the shadows playing across the droids body as it stared at the ship until it was out of sight, the droid turned and went back, once again fading into the shadows.


	2. Chapter 2

_**An Old Truth**_

 _ **Chapter 2.**_

* * *

All three of them, Lim, Ahsoka and Kanan were all in the makeshift lounge of the Ghost as the ship danced across the stars as they loomed ever closer to Lothal.

Lim in his dark robes that looked quite similar to Jedi Master robes was sitting behind the table on the bench, His hands were clasped as he slowly breathed in and out, his eyes were closed as they had been for the last few minutes... He seemed to be gathering himself in preparation for the barrage of questions that his two new friends were about to unleash upon him.

Ahsoka... "So beautiful." Kanan thought as he stared at her luscious curves, he loved everything about her... He had since the moment he saw her, he had kept this knowledge to herself. He watched her chest rise and fall with her steady breathing, her small breastplate concealing her beauty...

Ahsoka turned over and caught him gazing at her, she smiled at him in and inviting way...

Kanan she likes him as well... He just didn't know the extent of her feelings... He liked the streaks of Blue on her Lekku, how they riveted downward through her dual braids, their tips were resting on each side of her skirt... Near her delicate silver Lightsabers that were crafted with a masterful design.

Ahsoka liked the way Kanan looked at her, his eyes were filled with longing and joy at the sight of her... No one had looked at her in such a way for over a decade... He was studying her apparel and what it concealed... With a smile she did the same to him. She liked his broad shoulders, how his green vest clung to his well defined muscles... His shoulder guard matched him perfectly... His Lightsaber, it's shape reminded her just a little of Anakins blade... She looked at his lips then up to his eyes, his breaths becoming slightly faster as did his...

Lim was grinning inwardly, he could see with the force as well as with his own eyes... They were still mistrustful of him and had positioned themselves as guards, one to each side of him as he temporarily rested his eyes... He saw the looks that they were giving one another, he could feel their force auras caressing and twisting themselves around one another... He remembered how it had been with his own wife... He brushed the memory aside for now, he would torment himself later with the recollections but right now he needed to prepare himself, it was his great honor to carry on Revan's legacy even if it had been rejected for the last thirty five hundred years... They must keep their vigil.

His eyes slowly opened, neither of them noticed as they continued to gaze into each others soul... Apparently they liked what they saw, it warmed Lim's heart to see such things... Love was always a pleasant thing to see and know especially after experiencing a lifetime of struggle and pain...

Lim decided it was time to end the lover's contest... He shifted his body slightly which made Kanan and Ahsoka both flinch, they seemed to have almost forgotten he was there...

Ahsoka's eyes became curious but also cautious with repressed suspicion, she asked the first question which would uncork the reserves of knowledge Lim contained in his mind, the cascade was about to begin...

"What exactly do you about me." Ahsoka started in with the questions.

Lim sighed, he knew that it was going to be a very long time before the questions would stop, the corners of his mouth twitched, what was he complaining about? This was the reason he had left the sacred halls of his order, no longer being content with inaction... None them were, the problem was that none of his brothers or sisters had the faintest clue of how to approach the situation... He being one of the oldest masters in the Revanchist order was more easily given the benefit of the doubt... In truth he wasn't sure how to fulfill their duty anymore than the many who had come before him...

"Before I departed to fulfill the sacred duty of my order,,, I applied my heart to learn everything I could about every child of the force that was still alive whether they were Sith, Jedi or other. You Ahsoka, are one that I have been very interested in for quite some time, mainly because many of your actions showed me that your beliefs were becoming ever more similar to those of the Revan Chist, after I learned more of the Sith I planned to find you out and to "convert" you to the truth." Lim replied giving her a look of firm respect.

"You still haven't answered my question" Ahsoka said still feeling hostile towards him, she didn't like being spied on even if it was from a potential ally.

"I know of your feats during the Clone Wars, I know how you faked your death on Mandalore during the Jedi purge, I know of your late master" Anakin Skywalker" now more readily known as Darth Vader, I know of much of your work as Fulcrum and I believe I am beginning to know your heart quite well, I understand that you do not trust me yet which is entirely understandable." Lim said with palpable sincerity.

"You can trust me, My goals are the goals you have not yet realized you even had." Lim added thoughtfully.

Ahsoka's face had softened, not her curiosity was growing.

"What exactly do you think my goals are?" Ahsoka asked.

"You fight for the rebellion to end an evil, and you are correct in your conclusion that the Empire is evil, you now search for a way to save your master as any loving and faithful apprentice would, my goal is much the same but on a much broader scale, a scale that spans the entire and all that exist within it." Lim said exposing more of his own soul to these two lost Jedi.

"How did you know who Vader was?" Kanan asked quickly.

"Even most of the Jedi including the masters likely didn't learn the truth for some time." He added.

Lim looked up at Kanan as he subconsciously gripped the old Lightsaber at his belt, the others noticed so he slowly detached the blade and laid it on the table, he stared at it.

"I knew that Anakin was Vader because it is my job to know all things that one can know especially concerning the Force. In my Order I was the head Librarian which is synonymous with the keeper of knowledge, I have studied numerous Holocrons from both the Jedi and the Sith.

It was easy to recognize the pattern when one simply looked at the information, Anakin was on Coruscant during the Jedi Purge, all the Jedi on Coruscant died but even public records disclosed the strong bonds that Anakin had with Chancellor Palpatine... Now known as the Emperor and less commonly known as Darth Sidious to the "inn" crowd." I knew Anakin didn't die on Coruscant because my order routinely infiltrated the Jedi Temple remotely, gaining access to security footage, the information contained within your Library and numerous other things... We saw Anakin killing the Jedi at the Temple, when his face disappeared from the galaxy and in his place the masked menace known as Lord Vader took his place... It was a simple jump in logic to figure out who Vader was."

Lim's words were like a slap to Ahsoka, her chest hurt with the pain of hearing some of the atrocities her beloved master had committed even at the beginning of his false into darkness.

"And how were you planning on "converting" Anakin to your order, or any of us for that matter?" Kanan said truly curious now, his impatience forgotten.

Lim turned to Kanan, reluctantly breaking his stare with Ahsoka.

"You and the Inquisitor share many of the same inquiries, I planned to save... Convert him the same way I plan to Convert both of you." He answered with another smile.

They both stared at him dubiously.

"Oh, don't give me that look, it isn't as implausible or crazy as you might think." He said with a chuckle.

"All that is required for you to join my order is for you to be willing to follow the truth... admittedly it is a slim hope, while most people think themselves to be rational the truth of the matter is that people are rarely rational about anything, peoples heads are full of knowledge and most of it is false yet they still believe that nearly all of is true even when faced with evidence to the contrary... you see a Revanchist must not only battle the extreme religions of the children of the force but he must also combat the nature of life, that nature is to subject to deception and life rarely wishes to remove itself from deception because deceptions give pleasure unto life whereas the truth is often an inconvenience that most cannot be bothered with." Lim said with absolute clarity.

His words rang true and it shocked both Kanan and Ahsoka, the words of this mysterious man lingered in the air like smoke that is slow to disperse.

"Telling the truth is easy, making people hear the truth... Now that is what is difficult. Both the Jedi and the Sith have rooted themselves in delusion since the day they were both created... A long time ago there was no Jedi and no Sith, it was a large community of force users who harnessed both the light and the dark much as my Revanchist brethren do today, over foolish disputes and impartial thought processes that lacked proper logic and clarity there was inevitably a great divide between in the society, it broke into what we know today as the Jedi and the Sith... the original Jedi were nothing like Jedi of even a few decades ago, and the Sith were once a race that embraced the Dark Side but are now extinct yet the name of their race is still applied to those who share their ideals." Lim continued to give them tidbits of truth.

The knowledge flowing from Lims lips had the potential to crush both Kanan and Ahsoka and they knew it, their expressions turned fearful.

"Do not be afraid, one cannot grow unless they learn and one cannot learn the truth unless they are willing to hear it." Lim said with a sorrowful tone.

"I planned to save Vader not by bringing him to the light... but by putting balance in his heart." Lim said.

"Turning him back into a Jedi will not help him a great deal, but showing him the truth of how a child of the force is to be balanced in the light and dark will help him find his true self and thus he will find peace." Lim continued.

"The Dark Side of the force is as consuming as the Light, both of which are delusional in nature because each side attempts to deny their own nature, The Jedi deny their own humanity, their own need for attachment and fulfillment... the Sith indulge in emotion but they resist their primal need for love and acceptance substituting both in the pursuit of power, they replace Love with greed, and the need of acceptance with power, for who can reject one who is all powerful?" Lim's words were said with calmness and passion but they like a sword cutting through layers of the foundation for both Ahsoka's and Kanan's existence.

"Both sides want the same thing believe it or not, both sides want love, peace and acceptance, both desire knowledge and both desire contentment or fulfillment in their lives.

The truth though is that neither side can ever be one with the Living Force or Cosmic Force because they have alienated themselves from the force by indulging in extremes, the Jedi fetishize the light side of the force and thus they deny their own humanity by not allowing themselves to be part of life but rather they attempt to distance themselves from attachment and by distancing themselves from attachment they destroy their own humanity, life is not meant to be lived like a machine... The Sith fetishize the darkness and thus deny their own humanity by now allowing themselves to have empathy for anyone but themselves, they care for little and are destructive in their pursuit of power.

The Light and the Dark side of the force are manifestations of the emotions contained within the Living Force, however both the Light and the Dark are one and the same in the Living Force and the Cosmic Force even though they each manifest themselves in different ways." Lem said with great authority of one who not only believes but as one who knows.

"The Children of the force were meant to bring balance to the force, not to make the force into something it is not, the force is not polarized." Lem finished, looking at Kanan then Ahsoka.

"And you think that we should both become like you?" Ahsoka asked Lim quietly.

"I think that you should search within yourself to see if what I say is true or not, you can only follow me if you believe in the validity of my words." Lim replied quietly as well.

"You know Ahsoka, you are a grey Jedi already on the path of balance, you have thrown away the petty illusions of both the Jedi and you have embraced things that only the Sith and the Grey Jedi can embrace, you said you wanted to save Anakin yet that would conflict with the Jedi doctrine of no attachment, you love your old master and wish him to be saved... the problem though is that you do not know what you are saving him from... yet.

If you are to save Anakin you must not remake him into a Jedi rather you must bring him into balance with the force and thus he will become one with the Living Force and consequently the Cosmic Force."

A tear rolled down Ahsoka's cheek at the sheer potency of her emotions... Her dilemma... She desired to save Anakin more than anything else... She had indeed forsaken the narrow minded doctrines of the Jedi a long time ago,she had done so the day she left the Jedi Order after their false accusations against her. The reason they had accused her was because they were too cowardly to stand up against the Chancellor... She found it heart wrenching to think of all the suffering that man had caused, why hadn't they seen it coming?

Lim stood up and crossed the short distance between himself and Ahsoka, he laid a hand on her shoulder.

Ahsoka was about to shrug his hand off her when she looked up and saw his face.

A tear also rolled down Lim's face.

"I know your pain little one, I know what it is like to lose someone you love more than life itself." He confessed as he squeezed her shoulder a little bit.

Little did Lim know that this would root Ahsoka in her self appointed quest and give her the resolve she needed to save Anakin...

She looked back down at the table, gasping back her tears, it was incredible... She had spent so many years suppressing her emotions and memory but lately they had grown beyond her control, despair choked her.

Kanan moved over to her too also resting his hand on her back for comfort.

"You see the truth now Kanan?" Lim asked.

Kanan looked at Lim for a moment.

"We were always told that attachment was selfish by the Jedi Council and our other masters... our teachers, but none of us including our masters and teachers could see the damage such doctrines were doing to each of us, and to our order... We feared the Dark Side so much that we suppressed our own humanity under the guise of discipline... When in actuality it was a form of cowardice."

Lim nodded.

He released Ahsoka's shoulder as he walked to the middle of room, gripping his smooth chin in a thoughtful expression, he turned back and looked at them.

"Do you know why I and my order are called "Revanchist's" rather just being called "Grey Jedi" or some other name?" He asked them, opening another page of the mystery.

"I assumed it was because of Revan, but I never learned much about Revan... Did you Ahsoka?" Kanan asked her, glancing back down at her.

"I know precious little about him, his name was always suppressed by the Jedi and only the Jedi Masters on the council were allowed to study the Jedi and Sith Holocrons in the Jedi Vaults." She replied with a bad of anger coming to her eyes as she contemplated what the Jedi had hid from her as she fought the republics war... Risking her life continually as the Jedi hid knowledge from everyone... Even their own.

Lim noticed the look in her eyes.

"I understand your growing vindictiveness towards the council and you indeed deserve vindication, I share your desire... We contacted the Council periodically asking if they would like to be enlightened by our stores of knowledge, that we would allow them to even visit our grand library... They would have none of it though... We even offered to send some of our own to the Jedi Temple to share our knowledge with the Jedi... Again they would not have anything to do with us... The council made it clear that if any of us came near the Temple that we would be arrested... Or worse... Still I was willing to attempt an excursion... But that is a tale for another time." Lim finished, he had a look of anger on his own face.

"From what I understand, the concealing of knowledge is part of what made your master fall... A grace mistake by both your master and the Jedi, a mistake for the Jedi because they turned one of their own brightest and strongest against them by denying the truth and living in hypocrisy... And a mistake for Anakin because he acted based on ignorance not on the truth... Such is the lure of the Darkside... the Darkside always promises secret truth but such truths are rarely contained within their hate filled existence...

Anyways, we are called Revanchist because this same dilemma happened to our forefather... Revan."

Kanan and Ahsoka were drinking in his words as if his words had the power to bring them out of their predicament with the Empire... perhaps they could to an extent.

"Revan was once a Jedi, he had numerous teachers but after he had mastered Shien and had learned a great deal about the force he grow bold, he had become close friends with another Jedi known as Alek who later became Darth Malak just as Revan later became Darth Revan. When Revan was in his early to mid twenties he made a fateful decision... After years of observing the Mandalorian invasion of the outer rim the Republic had reached and thus began a decade long conflict with the barbarians from the northern parts of the galaxy though the war was primarily fought in or near the outer rim.

Revan and other Jedi pleaded with the Jedi Council to give militaristic aid to the republic... But they would not.

Revan in an act of defiance to the hypocritical notions and dogmas of the Jedi therefore formed an organization known as the Revanchist's or the Revanchist Movement, this band of loyal Jedi and Grey Jedi would follow Revan into the conflagration of war against the Mandalorian threat, through years of brutal conflict the war neared its ultimate battle"

Kanan thought this story was fascinating, he had always heard tales of Revan but had never really known about him, nor heard his history.

"That's interesting." Kanan murmured.

Lim inclined his head to Kanan encouraging him to continue.

"The Jedi Council didn't turn away from the Clone Wars... Why did the Jedi Council of old refuse to help with the Mandalorian invasion?" Kanan asked looking to Lim for an explanation.

"The Old Jedi Council had suffered grievous losses with a war that had taken place shortly before the Mandalorian invasion approximately 3,972 years ago, before the Mandalortians tempted another war with the Jedi the Jedi had been engaged in a conflict known as the Great Sith War in which a Sith Lord known as Exar Kun who was a fallen Jedi took the helm of a blood thirsty cult known as the Freedon Nad Uprising... Within a single Year numerous Jedi had died but at the end Exar Kun was defeated and sealed away.

The Jedi were not inclined to embark in another costly war...

Revan was not pleased as I previously embellished, He thought that the Jedi's cowardice would cause more damage to the Jedi and the Republic than any losses accumulated in warfare, not facing the threat was worse than facing the threat and losing those you loved.

A band of loyal Jedi renegades followed Revan into battle against the Mandalorian's until the final battle to determine the war took place on Malachor five approximately 3,956 years ago... Revan and his Lieutenant Meetra Surik employed the use of a cataclysmic weapon... The Mass Shadow Device which stripped the force from all life and turned it into a weapon which could destroy worlds... Revan lured the Mandalorian leader to the planet as the Mandalorian fleet dropped thousands upon thousands of troops from orbit... It is said that the use the Mass Shadow Device forever created a rift in the force which to this day has not been mended...

My order is named after the Revanchist for Revan was our father... Both Physically, Spiritually and Politically... Revan married a Jedi named Bastila Shan and her children kept the Revanchist way of life alive, honoring their father in life and death."

Ahsoka finally interrupted him.

"We were always taught that Revan was a Sith Lord..." Ahsoka asked with a dubious frown.

"Yet you follow him knowing that he fell to the Dark Side?" She continued, the look of mistrust was back on her face.

Kanan looked at her with an expression that showed that he shared her doubts.

Lim nodded.

"Indeed he was a Sith... For a time at least he was Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith... But it is not as simple as you might think, he did not fall as Anakin fell or numerous other Jedi have fallen... Revan had always been a creature of Balance much as Anakin was supposed to be and as you are becoming Ahsoka..." Lim paused and gave Ahsoka a meaningful look.

"After defeating the Mandalorians on Malachor V, Revan felt the pull of a dark influence in the unknown regions far into the outer rim... Revan and his loyal friend Alek who was like his brother decided to take a portion of their fleet and search out the source of the shrouded darkness.

The main Revanchist forces along with the Republic did not hear from Revan for around two years when seemingly out of the blue and without warning Revan returned with Alex at his side... He had an armada of ships controlled by AI technology or being piloted by his corrupted veterans... There were also Sith with him, many Sith as the rule of two had not yet been established."

"The rule of two..." Kanan whispered,

"Wasn't that developed by Darth Bane?" He added cautiously.

Lim lifted his eyebrows as his gaze leveled on the Jedi Knight.

"So you do know some of your history... Yet Darth Bane formed the rule of two after researching Revan's Holocron along with the Holocron of numerous other Sith, that does not mean the Rule of two is beneficial for the Sith... Look at the Empire today, there are two primary Sith Lords; Darth Vader and Darth Sidious, yet they surround themselves with numerous Sith Assassins, the old Sith were structured similarly... The Rule of Two may help them survive in desperate times but when the Sith have obtained power... And the Sith have obtained more power presently then they ever have before... Anyways once they obtain power they become lax with the rule of Two and numerous other Sith climb on top of one another with their never ending lust for ascendancy." Lim said in a serious tone.

"And what makes Revan any different than any other Sith?" Ahsoka asked still dubious about Lims allegiance to the man.

"The Difference is that Revan nor Malak chose to be Sith, they found the darkness in the void... That darkness had a name... Lord vitiate, he corrupted Revan and Malak with his Sith Alchemy turning them into his tools to use against the republic as a sort of vanguard for Vitiates own invasion... Some thing that Vitiate had a hand in compelling the Mandalorians to invade the outer rim and consequentially the Republic at large." Lim pondered the implications of such things...

"Force corruption." Ahsoka muttered as she looked away.

"Ah so you know of the technique Ahsoka?" Lim asked amazed.

Ahsoka began rhythmically tapping her fingers across the table as she reflected back on old memories, breathing softly as a crease formed on her brow she glanced up back into Lims aged and creased face.

Kanan stood there dwelling on the information... Secrets that had been laid bare, of course this was assuming Limmick wasn't lying to them or using them... He didn't know why but he trusted the old man, he saw the sincerity in him... He also saw other things, the light and sometimes the dark twisting in his eyes in an eternal balance, it unnerved him to see someone who was at once at peace and at once consumed with the chaos of the Dark Side, but the fact that Lim could control both seemingly with little effort brought great weight to his words and thus his understanding of the force...

He listened to the hum of the engines, the coolness of the air with the slight scent of many bodies which were often confined in the relatively small ship, Ahsoka had her own smell about her which for some reason always attracted him making him look at her with longings, feelings he had tried to isolate and suppress within himself as was the pattern of the Jedi teachings instilled in him since before he could remember, yet now he was learning that such feelings were meant to be acted upon within a respective balance of self control... The Sith indulged in emotion without control and without boundaries thus making them slaves to their own lusts whatever those lusts might be... Lim was showing that combining aspects of the Jedi and Sith would create a powerful being who was at once compassionate and at once fulfilled... Kanan longed to feel whole at this man clearly felt even with the sadness that emanated from him.

Kanan's musing halted abruptly as Ahsoka began to speak once more.

"During the Clone Wars there was a mission that Obi Wan, Anakin and I were charged with, there was a strangle transmission detected in a pocked of empty space or so we had thought. We were all traveling in our personal ship which we had named the Twilight, we approached the coordinates but didn't detect anything on our ships sensors when suddenly out of the blue this massive quadrilateral ship, before we knew it our ships systems were deactivated and we were pulled into whatever it was.

We awoke some time later to find ourselves on this beautiful planet that was in a rapid state of growth and decay, it was like the seasons all happened in a day with the night being filled with death for all the life on the planet... We were encountered by this glowing being who called itself a "one", I didn't know at the time but Anakin himself was a "one" and he didn't even know it.

As it turned out there were three "ones" on the planet ship which was called "Mortis". Lim lifted an eyebrow as he had numerous times that day...

"Mortis, how interesting... We have records in our library of such a place but I like many others always thought it a legend or myth, the beings on that planet were incredibly old considering the age of our records concerning Mortis date back over three thousand years..." Lim confided in them, he was now very curious, he nodded to Ahsoka to continue.

Ahsoka studied the old man thinking of how they could have known of the place... She would have to dwell on this later.

"Anyways, the one which appeared unto us was called "the daughter", there were two others there one called "The son" and the other "The father". The daughter led Anakin and the rest of us down a path by some cliffs when a boulder crashed down barring the way for us, we were separated. Obi Wan and I traveled back and found a cave for shelter as Anakin pressed onward... I had a vision in the cave, a vision of my future self... She told me to be wary of Anakin that he would lead me to ruin..." Ahsoka grinned at the memory.

"My mental projection of my older self turned out to be far from reality, I look nothing like the vision now... After day break we were both kidnapped by the Son and Daughter and brought to large pedestal, the Father threatened Anakin telling him that if he didn't control his children that he would have his children kill Obi Wan and me.

Anakin displayed incredible power as he used the force to control both the of the children and thus secured our freedom... I was captured by the Son shortly after and held in his Monastery... Prison you could call it." Ahsoka grimaced at the memory.

"He shape shifted into this little monster, we got into an altercation... He bit me then, and it was like I lost all control of my mind and body, I was in control but I was not myself... I felt alive, emotions ran through me like streams from many fountains, whatever I desired I sought, whatever felt good I did but I was bound to the one who had corrupted me.

He encouraged me to fight with Anakin and Obi Wan, Obi Wan had acquired a blade which had the ability to kill the ones... Nothing we used could hurt them as far as we knew, I stole the blade and gave it to the Son as I was bonded to him by his force corruption, he told me I was no longer useful as he laid his finger between my brows... I don't remember much of what happened during those moments."

Ahsoka felt empathy thinking of Anakins pain.

"Anakin told me I was dead, and that he had transferred the life force of the daughter into me and that I came alive after he did so..." Lim had folded his arms across the table and was looking at the hallway which led to the crew quarters, he was deep in thought as he listened to her words... Likely he was mixing her words and his knowledge into a complex formula that would make sense to him.

Kanan didn't like the thought of her falling to the Dark Side... He liked the thought of her dying even less.

Lim nodded to Ahsoka for her to continue, she did.

"None of us ever talked about it, but I am pretty sure that what Anakin did was not only give me my life back but actually make me a "One" like himself since the daughter was a "One"." Lim made a noise in his through.

"Hmm, that is possible, the force is like energy and it can be transferred into a susceptive host, there are many abilities one can use to distort or transfer force energy, you can do this with people and even with objects, the force is like an eternal source of power which can be harnessed and dispersed if one understand such things that is." Lim told them confidently, showing that he had experience with such things.

"The force can do many things to a person, kill them, erase their memory, control their minds, corrupt them... It can also heal people, restore memory and free those from themselves and from corruption, it is a powerful thing not to be underestimated at any time, not to be abused by the foolish." Lim said with authority as if he was teaching a class of younglings.

Kanan held up his hand stopping Lim and Ahsoka.

"Are you telling me that Ahsoka is now some kind of force demi god or something?" Lim smiled at his terminology.

"If the Daughter was indeed a "one" and her life essence was transferred into Ahsoka then yes Ahsoka is very likely a "One". Lim explained with reasonable emphasis.

Ahsoka leaned back, she drew one of her legs up cross it over her opposite knee as she stretched, she had been cooped up for awhile Kanan thought.

Ahsoka asked another question as she yawned.

"So what exactly is a "one?" Kanan smiled, she had stolen his question... The phrase "great minds think alike" popped into his head.

Lim paused for a moment as he collected himself preparing to delve into another taxing explanation.

"A "One" is someone who has incredible force potential, the force energy contained within their Midichlorians is far above average, they have the ability to accomplish feats that most would think of as being magic.

A "One" is stronger in the force than any Jedi, Sith or other force sensitive, it is like the difference between a bug and a Jedi Master concerning force potential." Lim suddenly tapped his fanger on the table.

"You said that the "One's" on Mortis cold shape shift?" Lim questioned her intently.

"Yes" Ahsoka responded truthfully.

"The more force energy the more force knowledge is contained within your body, all life is an expression of the force thus the more force energy you have the more potential your physical form contains... A "One" can transmogrify themselves into nearly any shape, for all life is merely a physical manifestation of the Living Force, but "One's" unlike most life, can alter the physical form they take on."

"The possible uses for the force were nearly infinite" thought Kanan, with enough power you could accomplish nearly anything.

"We are getting off track." Lim's words pulled Kanan from his thoughts.

"I enjoy talking with you both to be quite as enjoyable as teaching my apprentice the ways of the force." Lim's face glowed with joy as he memory was clearly playing in front of his eyes.

Lim sighed, suddenly mournful again.

"You see... My order has been sending in the most experienced, the most compassionate, the most empathetic of our own into Republic space since our beloved forefather left us. We have kept his ways in his absence to the best of our abilities... Our goal is the same goal Revan had, which was to end the eternal conflict of the Jedi and Sith and not to do so by war if possible but to do so with knowledge, love and understanding..." His deep voice felt like it emanated from every corner of the room as if multiple people were speaking with him.

"I have taken on the sacred duty of my order... my brothers and sisters... our fathers and mothers... my family." A tear dropped from his eye.

"Nearly twice every century one is sent to the Jedi and Sith in order to attempt to bring them into the fold, to bring balance to the force and to end the blood shed that never seems to cease... While it is true that the Sith armies and invasions have been halted for a millennia, that does mean by any degree that the Sith have not been active in Republic space and other domains in the galaxy..." His words made Kanan feel shame, he didn't know why.

"Nearly all of whom we have sent has not returned, most have died, some were lost and some we never heard from again... But all who left were changed forever..." His expression changed to a look of fury.

"The Jedi Sentinels would kill us on sight regardless of our benevolent efforts to save them, the Sith hunt us down knowing that we have the potential to reveal them to the Jedi... Both the Jedi and Sith have known of us for eons and our call has gone unanswered, our words have returned void... We have kept our vigil, sending our masters or those of us with a will to aid our lost siblings of the force, we send them in times of dire need..."

Weariness replaced the fury that had burned brightly in his eyes.

"I have come bearing the burden which has been placed on many shoulders, many of my brethren for the last four thousand years... We keep our vigil... We keep our promise, we have come again to bring balance and now I am here... And I shall serve." Lim finished with absolute conviction.

Ahsoka's barriers broke, she began to trust Limmick as Kanan clearly had chosen to, this was no Sith... Yet he was no Jedi either.

She scoffed at herself, who was she to judge? She had turned her back on the order two decades ago and it had been the right decision, if Anakin had left with her he would have undoubtedly remained Anakin and the Jedi would have undoubtedly been spared, her thoughts turned vicious.

"It was the Jedi's fault that Anakin fell." She thought within herself, remembering how the council had betrayed her, how they had betrayed the trust of Anakin... But when she had left, she had done the same thing to him... But that had not been her intention, she was left the order to save herself but in so doing she abandoned the person she loved most in life. Since the day she had arrived on Ryloth her world had revolved around one man, her brother of the heart, every day she had been separated from him she had thought of him nearly endlessly...

She hadn't asked him to leave because she knew about his love for Padme, asking him to leave would have been selfish... Staying herself would have been unbearable.

"I accept you Lim, you are a wise master and you will be a valuable asset to our rebellion." She said both from the perspective of Ahsoka and Fulcrum.

"I too accept you, we can use all the help we can get and it seems that your knowledge of the force far exceeds mine... Hell, it might even exceed master Yoda's..." Kanan said the last part hesitantly but it was the truth.

"Thank you my friends." Lim responded, he seemed relieved to be accepted.

"It has been many centuries since any Jedi or Sith have accepted any of our number in their counsel, in their home, in their affairs..." He confided in them, sharing the significance of their acceptance.

The console started to beep, the ship suddenly decelerated from hyperspace, Lothal shone as a gem in a sea of black... It was good to be back...

"We're here." He alerted them in a relieved tone.

Ahsoka looked over to Kanan.

"We went hoping to bring back good news, but I think we have brought something far more valuable back..." Ahsoka said softly as she glanced back to the old man.

"And what would that be Ahsoka?" Lim asked with a curious expression.

"Hope." She said as she rose to her feet.

Ahsoka walked to the cockpit and sat down in the pilots seat, Kanan used the opportunity to tell Lim some things.

He walked over to the bench and sat where Ahsoka had been moments before.

"Lim... I have an apprentice, he is a bit... Ambitious." Lim smiled at this.

"I was much the same when I was an apprentice, drinking in knowledge but lacking the wisdom to use it properly." Lim stretched his arms across the table as he clasped his hands together, he popped his shoulders... He had been in that cage for a year, Kanan remembered with grimace at the thought of how that would feel, especially if he was an old man.

"Yes..." Kanan started to respond.

"I think we can both use your teachings and guidance especially concerning combat, we already ran into an inquisitor..." Lim nodded at that.

"Yes, I discovered that you and your apprentice... Defeated him... He was once a Jedi Sentinel you know?" Lim gave him yet another secret freely.

"I... I didn't know that he was a Jedi..." Kanan suddenly felt sick at the thought, were all the Inquisitor former Jedi as well?

"Kanan... I came to save the Sith as much as the Jedi, my priority is to bring both of you into the way of the Revanchist which is very similar to Ahsoka's self chosen path of the grey Jedi... I did not come to kill the Sith for you, nor did I come to help the Sith either... I am choosing to help in your rebellion because it will serve the purpose of bringing balance to the force, at least in this galaxy..." Kanan nodded, he knew this as Lim had already described it in great detail.

"I still think that it would help us if you taught us more about using the force..." Kanan pleaded with him.

"I will teach what I know, know that some things cannot be mastered over night, many of my abilities can only be mastered by one who is in harmony with the force, one who balances on the knives edge... And that is what it will be to you at first, when I first guide you into the use of the Dark Side your footing will be as perilous as the knives edge but the more you learn and grow the thicker that foundation will become until you are dancing across a widened blade as you sing the song of joy, having found your true self.

It is not a religion I bring, it is merely the truth of the force. The force is not something that dictates what you should or should become rather it expands your knowledge and the potential use of that knowledge to serve your own ends, the reality of the situation is that even though forcing yourself to use both the Light and Dark while being difficult it is also the more freeing path for a force sensitive, in finding balance you and and your apprentice will find yourselves and you will be better for it regardless of your fate..." Lim's words were both comforting and encouraging, it was like having Yoda here, he had always known what to say and what to do in nearly every situation.

Kanan folded his arms as he stared at the opposite wall, they began to feel the gravity of Lothal as they descended into its atmosphere.

"Lim... I am... afraid to use the Dark Side." Kanan said no more as no more was necessary to relay his question to the old man.

Lim responded in a low voice, one worn down with age.

"One should always be wary of the lure of the Dark Side, we Revanchist's know this better than anyone else... It will tempt you, it will call to you and sing the song that pleases your heart... You must resist the temptation to delve into its dark succor, when I begin to teach you and your apprentice you shall both test your metal... You shall know whether you are strong or weak... But fear not, if you fall into the darkness I will be there to pull you out of his dark embrace." Lim reassured him.

Kanan's eyes widened.

"How can you do such a thing?"

Lim studied him for a few moments.

"Do you remember the story Ahsoka just told us? The "Son" used the Dark Side of the force to corrupt her... I can use the Light and Dark in the same manner, I know how to remove force corruption... But it only works if the soul is willing to relinquish the darkness... Since you have been a Jedi nearly your whole life I doubt the light within would be vanquished in so short a time, it takes years for a Sith to extinguish themselves and most lack the will to truly cut themselves off from the light... Once a Sith travels that far down the path of destruction there is nothing anyone can do for them... The only one who can save them at that point is themselves." He said in a grace tone laced with warning, a warning to guard his heart from the darkness.

They felt the Ghost suddenly settle onto the planet, Kanan stood subconsciously scratching his beard.

"Are you ready to meet the rest of the crew?" Kanan asked him, the eagerness to be reconciled to his proxy family overcoming his serious expression.

Ahsoka walked out of the pilots nest.

"Are we all ready?" She asked pointedly at Lim.

"Hard to contemplate that it's been over a year since my feet traversed a planet..." He said jokingly.

"Yes I think I am ready to meet the rest of your family." Lim said with an eagerness of his own... As if he missed his own family and the loneliness was about to be replaced by the presence of friends.

Kanan and Ahsoka looked at each other as Lim walked down the hall towards the ramp, they smiled. Ahsoka went over and hugged him unexpectedly, he suddenly put his arms around her, caressing her shoulders.

"You just couldn't keep your eyes off me today." She said in a false tone of admonishment.

He grinned at her words.

"No sane man in my position would have done any less, my lady." He teased her with an exaggerated roguish tone.

"I had already been thinking some of the things Lim made known to us... How that attachments define who we are whether they are selfish or not... Ahsoka I want to be selfish with you." He confided in her, his voice contained a small trace of lust.

She tightened her arms around him.

"I like you Kanan... I like you too much... I never thought I would feel this way about anyone else ever again... I didn't expect that..."

He let her cling to him.

"I think we have gained more today than I had at first imagined... Or could have hoped for..." Kanan chuckled, his deep voice resonating in the cramped access.

Ahsoka laughed in a lilting manner as she finally released him, he left his arm around her shoulders as they followed Lim down the ramp into the cool fresh air of a bright new day, a new day for them, for the Ghost, for Lothal and perhaps even for the Galaxy itself.


End file.
